Grand Place

The Grand Place in Lille centers on the Column of the Goddess, a bronze figure standing tall atop a pedestal surrounded by water. While the square holds centuries of trade history, its current layout owes much to the seventeenth-century architect Simon Vollant. In eighteen ninety-two, the city erected that column to commemorate the resistance against an Austrian siege. During the siege, the local commander refused to surrender, even as shells rained down, and the townspeople maintained their defiance until the Austrians retreated.